STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS..................... UNIVERSITIES-THE EDUCATION SYSTEM-AND TRAINING............ 5 NATIONAL INITIATIVES WITH THE PRIVATE AND PUBLIC SECTORS The Federal Laboratory Consortium (FLC) received its legislative mandate under the Technology Transfer Act of 1986 (PL99-50) to facilitate Federal technology transfer in cooperation with Federal laboratories and the private sector. To achieve this the FLC initiates national programs that are beyond the scope of individual laboratories or agencies. In most of these initiatives, the Consortium represents the broad resources necessary for substantial progress. Another approach with nationwide impact involves monitoring the success of individual laboratory initiatives and facilitating their rapid replication. INDUSTRY The larger companies have ample resources and wide interests that can facilitate a broad range of long-term relationships with the Federal laboratories. The Consortium's strategy for developing this opportunity is to approach individual companies and their trade associations directly at both executive and technical levels. In cooperation with the Industrial Research Institute (IRI) a concept to link American industry with the government's manufacturing technology programs was developed. The result was a national conference in March, 1988, cosponsored by the Consortium and the IRI, hosted by the Wright Research and Development Center. The conference focused on computer-integrated manufacturing, with presentations by representatives of the three military services, the National Bureau of Standards, (now National Institute of Standards and Technology), the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Department of Energy. There were representatives from State and local based programs, academe and more than fifty American companies in attendance. They overwhelmingly rated this conference extremely valuable in forging relationships with the government technology programs. They also indicated a strong interest in similarly-focused initiatives in other areas of manufacturing technology. The FLC continued its cooperation with a nonprofit organization, Technology Transfer Conferences, Inc. in organizing working sessions between Federal laboratories and companies in the areas of physical and life sciences. Since 1982, the FLC has sponsored a series of nine intensive Technology Transfer Conferences designed to spark industrial interactions with participating Federal laboratories. At the 1988 meeting, 17 laboratories described their most promising technologies to representatives of 28 major companies. Another session is scheduled in 1989 in Philadelphia. Substantial progress in developing laboratory industry cooperation has been made through interaction with the Industrial Research Institute (IRI). Current approaches used by the Consortium were confirmed by a survey of 200 industry research directors and technical managers. In addition to reinforcing the current approach of FLC member laboratories the resulting information will influence the planning of future programs. The survey results were the basis of a Special Interest Session of the IRI's October, 1988 conference. Their assessment of the key factors for success were: Person-to-Person Contact Existence of a Transfer Champion A majority of the responses reported satisfactory experience with the laboratories and were quite positive about the promise of future benefits to their companies resulting from this cooperation and interaction. Their preferred modes of interaction were: Individual Laboratory visits Other methods mentioned by a significant number of respondents were: Workshops/Seminars Technical Consultation Use of Laboratory Facilities Less favored, but mentioned by approximately 20% of the respondents: Licensing Employee Exchange During 1988, the Consortium worked with the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) to develop an agreement, signed in 1989, to cooperate in technology transfer to the nuclear power industry. Under this memorandum of understanding EPRI will establish a Nuclear Technology Transfer Center to provide the special focus on government developed technologies. The center staff will identify high impact needs and prioritize laboratory technologies which have potential for meeting those needs. To meet its responsibilities, the FLC will use its knowledge of Federal laboratory expertise and technologies, its existing network of contacts and laboratory representatives, and the experience of its laboratories in moving technologies from the laboratory to the user. EPRI has identified a total of 20 key technologies and 12 are classed as high priority. A preliminary matching of the needs with laboratory expertise has identified 89 laboratories that potentially could provide input for meeting these needs. Many of these laboratories have not worked with EPRI before. Beginning with its Fall 1988 meeting, the Consortium has organized plenary sessions at which industry representatives can describe their companies' areas of interest. High level representatives of 3M, Hewlett-Packard, Borg-Warner Chemicals and Allied Signal participated in this first session, which is now a permanent feature of the Consortium's semiannual meetings. Planning began in 1988 for a major industry - Federal laboratory workshop on hazardous materials technology for the aerospace and electronics industries, as described later in this report under Special Initiatives. SMALL BUSINESS The importance of small business to the nation's competitive position and job creation is well understood. The diverse and disaggregated nature of the small business community poses a unique challenge in developing national initiatives. Our approach has focused on working with state-level programs, participating in government innovation workshops, and replicating the successful experience of individual laboratories. The Consortium's Small Business Subcommittee undertook a major demonstration program with the Oklahoma Department of Vocational and Technical Education (VoTech) to link Federal laboratories with small business. The staffs of 41 VoTech centers were trained in the use of the FLC and other resources for small business and a transfer workshop was held in October involving representatives from 13 laboratories and the Oklahoma private and public sectors. As a direct result of this initiative, a follow-up workshop on flexible manufacturing was held in April, 1989, and a state-level consortium for technology transfer is in the formation stage. This consortium will include VoTech, Enterprises, Inc., the State Small Business Development Center, and the engineering colleges of the University of Oklahoma and the University of Tulsa. Based on the Oklahoma experience, initiatives will be made in another 6-12 states to enhance development of state-scale expertise in technology transfer as a resource for business enhancement and economic development. The first follow-on project will be with Fresno City College (FCC), in the Central Valley of California. This project will begin with a training session to which the remaining 106 California community colleges will be invited. The Consortium continues to promote cooperation with SBIR award winning companies by assisting individual laboratories' outreach to these firms and by participating in national SBIR conferences with exhibits and presentations. A project was begun in 1988 to strengthen the process of entrepreneurial spin-offs from the laboratories. A set of spin-offs is being studied to provide both documentation and a training package on the success factors, problem resolution, and institution of properly supportive laboratory policy. The Consortium continues its cooperation with the NASA Applications Centers to provide laboratory linkages to appropriate small-business clients. STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS State and local governments are responsible for a significant portion of the services provided to citizens; and they have been direct users of laboratory technology. In many instances, these governments have effective programs to assist resident companies, to which Federal laboratory technology contributes. Nonprofit, geographically-based programs are also importar technology transfer. In planning for passage of the technology portion of the Omnibus Trade and Competitiveness Act of 1988, the Consortium maintained close communication with the National Bureau of Standards (now NIST) to develop close cooperation in its new Technology Extension Service responsibility; details on this cooperation are provided later in this report. The newest Model Demonstration program, described under that report section, involves the U.S. Conference of Mayors (USCM) and will provide an excellent basis for renewed activity in the local government arena. The project with USCM will couple nine cities with nine or more Federal laboratories to use new technologies for specific urban needs. The project has a high |